Catholic Unity, Part 3 – Part 4
Use 2.
BY what hath been said you may easily perceive, how little cause the Papists, or Ceremonious, or any others, have to glory in such members of their Churches as I have described. Can they expect a Unity of the Spirit with these? If they glory that they have men and multitudes on th…ir side; so may the Turks that have more then they: and so may the Heathens that have more then either. And yet when a Papist hath deceived a poor licentious, or ignorant man, or a proud or vitious silly woman, they glory in their Convert. Never yet did I know any Prot…stant turn Papist, that was not an ungodly wretch before, and without the power of the Religion which he professed. Do not say I speak censoriously or uncharitably in this; for I think upon consideration all Papists will confess it: For they teach that all that be not of their Church are void of charity, and cannot so be saved: and that all must therefore come into their Church, because there is no Charity or Salvation without it. Though this be false, yet you see by it that they confess that never any but graceless unsanctified Protestants did turn to them: Nor can they invite any to them but ungodly people. And who ever turneth Papist, doth thereby confess that he was ungodly before, and that he was not an honest godly man. For in turning Papist, he professeth to go into that Church out of which there is no salvation, and consequently no Charity or saving grace. And if indeed you desire none but the ungodly to turn to you, take them if they will needs go, and try whether you can do any more good on them then we have done. I think we have little cause (but for their own sakes) to lament our loss of such as these: and that you have little cause to glory in your Proselites. And I have yet seen none that shew us any more Holiness since their change, then they had before. A fair Church you have, that is the common stie for all that will come to you; and that is glad of any to make up the number, that you may have that in quantity, that is wanting in quality.
Use 3.
FRom hence also let Quakers, and Papists, and all reproachers of our Churches take notice, how groundlesly they hit us in the teeth with the ungodly that live among us. [These are your Protestants, say they; These are your Churches: These are the fruit of your Ministry! say the Quakers.] No; these are the enemies of our Ministry and Doctrine: These are they that joyn with you, and such as you, to reproach us and revile us! These are the obstinate despisers of our Ministry; that instead of learning of us, do revile us; and instead of obeying our doctrine, do make a mock at it. If they are any of them brought to a sound confession, and restrained from any vice, they may thank the doctrine which we preach for that (unless they do it only for fear of the Laws.) But their profaneness is it that we have endeavoured to cure them of, and cannot; for they are obstinate.
If Papists or Quakers accuse our Doctrine as dead and weak, because it cannot cure all our hearers; What forgetful dotards are they that observe not how they condemn themselves? Do the Quakers or Papists change us all to their opinions by their books or preaching? Beyond Sea they are fain to keep men in their Church by fire and sword for fear of losing them: and here, it is but here and there an ignorant ungodly wretch, or a proud raw novice, that turns to them.
You may therefore as well hit us in the teeth with your selves that revile us and say, [We are the fruit of your Ministry] as with the ungodly, and tell us that [they are the fruit] of our Ministry. For though they live among us, they are not of us. And we teach men no more to be ungodly, then to be Quakers or Papists. If you say, that they are in our Churches; I answer, where Discipline is exercised, the most of them are out; and the rest we weed up as fast as they so discover themselves, that we may do it without danger of pulling up the Wheat with them. Many of us reject them by Discipline: and all of us rebuke and disown them by doctrine. If Jews and Heathens were among us, we could not preach more against them, then we do against the ungodly; nor could we labour harder to cure them. Tell us not therefore of them: they are none of ours: they disown us, and we disown them: They are our persecutors as you are, that hate us when we have done our best for them, and love us least when we love them most; and cast back all our instructions in our faces, or cast it behind their backs, and tread it under feet. They are those against whom we shake off the dust of our feet: They are not our Disciples; but such as refuse to be Christs own Disciples.
Nay I wonder that Papists and Quakers do not to their shame observe, that it is like to be some evil Spirit that sets them a work to rail against us; seeing all the Drunkards, and Whore-mongers, and covetous wretches, and ungodly malicious people in our Parishes be of their mind, and rail against us as they do: Its like to be the same cause that hath the same effect. If it be the Devil that sets the Profane to rev…le us, judge who it is that sets these sects to spake the same or like words against the same persons?
And you that are Profane and ungodly, I pray you here take notice what a case you are in! You are so vile that a few besides your selves will own you. We disown you: You are none of ours; because you will be none of Christs. And the very Quakers and other sects disown you, and hit us in the teeth with you, as if you were our shame: All these bear witness against your ungodliness: And therefore if yet you will be ungodly, when Quakers are against you, and all are against you almost as well as we; if you will hear neither Ministers nor Sectaries, neither Teachers nor Railers, how many witnesses will rise up against you, and how speechless will you be?